Summary While returning to Digby, Nova Scotia, from scallop grounds in the Bay of Fundy, the fishing vessel MONAPEARL grounded on a rising tide in Hardy Cove. The two crew were forced to abandon the vessel and get into a liferaft. They were rescued by local residents who had observed the vessel's progress along the coast and become concerned. The vessel was subsequently declared a constructive total loss. Ce rapport est galement disponible en franais. Other Factual Information The MONAPEARL was a side dragger with the wheel-house, skipper's cabin and engine-room aft. The fish hold was midships and the crew accommodation forward of the hold. The shucking house extended forward from the wheel-house on the port side of the main deck above the fish hold. This design reduced forward visibility from the wheel-house on the port side. The gallows was rigged on the starboard side. The MONAPEARL departed Digby, Nova Scotia, at 1700 on 6 April 1997 for the scallop grounds in the Bay of Fundy. The vessel's crew of two was reportedly engaged in scallop dragging and preparing the catch for between 18 and 20 hours per day after their arrival on the fishing grounds, anchoring the vessel with the scallop rake while they slept. Radar and other navigational aids were reportedly operational throughout the voyage. On 8 April 1997, at approximately 2200, the skipper decided to leave the fishing grounds to return to Digby. The gear was hauled in and secured during which time the vessel was drifting. Reportedly using a Loran C fix giving a position of 4453'50N , 6533'23W, the skipper set a course of 250 - 255 magnetic on the auto-pilot for Prim Point at the entrance to Digby Gut. All the work-deck lights were left on after the vessel departed the fishing grounds. Given the vessel's speed and the flood tide, the skipper estimated it would take three hours to reach the O'Neil Fisheries wharf some 15 miles distant in Digby. About 15 minutes later, he handed the watch over to the deck-hand and went to rest in his cabin. The deck-hand had instructions to call the skipper after one hour and ten minutes. The deck-hand had been involved in the fishery in Newfoundland and Nova Scotia for a year and a half. He had limited experience on scallop draggers and, had, reportedly, little experience in conning the vessel or in the use of its navigational aids. It was reported, however, that he had been in charge of a bridge watch on fishing vessels similar to the MONAPEARL on five previous occasions. At 2130, an observer on shore reported seeing a vessel with the deck lights illuminated and estimated it to be 1 - 1 miles offshore. At 2230, at Delap Cove, he again observed the vessel, this time very close to shore, and thought that it was in trouble. He and other residents of the area then proceeded to locate the vessel along the shore. At approximately the same time, the skipper, who was in his cabin, felt two thuds as if the vessel had hit a sea. The vessel vibrated and came to a stop. The skipper immediately went to the bridge. The deck-hand indicated that he did not know the vessel's location, had not seen that they had been heading for shore and had not fallen asleep. At 2236, the skipper called Yarmouth Coast Guard Radio and reported that the vessel was sinking in position 4447'39 N, 6535'57W. In fact, the vessel was aground in Hardy Cove. The vessel was about 5-6 metres offshore. Both crew members abandoned the vessel and got into a 6-person liferaft. The local residents arrived in Hardy Cove just as the liferaft drifted ashore and they assisted the crew members, neither of whom had suffered serious injury. Both crew members were transported to hospital by the RCMP. The vessel had grounded with its bow pointing to the southwest, parallel to the coast. On the evening of 8/9 April 1997, low water in the area was at 1913 and high water was at 0124 local time. At the time of the grounding the tide was rising and the tidal range was 8.53 metres. The vessel reportedly had a top speed of 8-9 knots in favourable conditions. Given the skipper's estimate of 3 hours to cover the 15 miles to the wharf it is reasonable to surmise that the vessel was making good 5 knots. In 36 minutes the vessel would have travelled three miles. Throughout the trip the crew maintained a work/rest schedule of 20 consecutive hours on duty (typically from 0700 hrs to 0300 hrs the next day) and four hours off duty (0300 hrs to 0700 hrs). During the four-hour, off-duty period, the crew was able to obtain sleep. Fatigue and Performance Degradation Fatigue may be described as a physiological state typically caused by inadequate quantity of sleep and characterized by impaired performance and diminished alertness. On average, a person needs 7.5 to 8.5 hours of sleep per day. A person obtaining less than his/her required sleep develops a sleep debt and will exhibit performance degradation. Performance degradation as a result of fatigue manifests itself in many ways including: failure to respond, slowed physical and cognitive reactions, incorrect actions, flawed logic and judgement, increases in false responses (responding when no stimulus is present) increases in memory errors, vigilance decrement, reduced motivation, an increased propensity for risk taking and falling asleep against the will of the individual.(2) Unplanned and uncontrollable sleep episodes take the form of what is known as a lapse or micro-event, which can last from seconds to several minutes, and occur at any time of the day or night throughout periods of perceived wakefulness. Stimulus, information, and even conversation occurring during a micro-event may not register with the affected individual at all, even if their eyes are open.(3) Although the existence of micro-eventscan be confirmed by electroencephalogram (EEG) recordings, people are not generally aware of them. In fact, the last person to recognize fatigue, and often the most unreliable person to ask regarding their performance, is the individual who is already tired.(4) This statement is supported by the findings of a recent study conducted by the U.S. Department of Transportation, the U.S. Federal Highway Administration, and Transport Canada (Commercial Motor Vehicle Driver Fatigue and Alertness Study). The study concluded that people are not very good at assessing their own levels of alertness and that there is a tendency for people to rate themselves as more alert than performance tests indicate. METOC weather and surface analysis for the Bay of Fundy for 8 April 1997, reported visibility was generally good with an air temperature of +2C. Between 0000 and 0200 UTC 9 April 1997, the automatic weather station on Brier Island (4417' N, 6621' W) reported winds from 300 - 310 true at 17 - 20 knots with a few gusts near 25 knots. Wave heights in the middle of the Bay of Fundy would have been near 1 metre, closer to shore their height would have been influenced by bottom topography and currents. The most probable wave height in the area of the grounding would have been 1 -2 metres. The tidal stream runs parallel to the coast between 1 knots on the ebb flowing southwest and 2 knots during the flood flowing northeast. The combined influence of wind and waves on the vessel's beam would have been to set the vessel towards the western shore of Nova Scotia.